INDIANAPOLIS—Michigan rolled through its schedule 15-0 last season to win its first national championship since 1997.

The Wolverines did it during a year when they prepared in practice for something that never happened—a rematch with Georgia football.

The Bulldogs were seeking a three-peat title after winning in 2021 and 2022 including a national semifinal win in the Orange Bowl over the Wolverines en route to coach Kirby Smart’s first title.

More: Mixed views now for Florida State opt-outs after lopsided Orange Bowl vs. Georgia football

More: Where Georgia athletics' push for inclusivity stands now with DEI programs facing backlash

Michigan had a “Beat Georgia” period in practice.

Just like it had a “Beat Ohio” period for the rival Ohio State Buckeyes in 2021.

“That was a big thing,” defensive end Braiden McGregor said Wednesday at the NFL combine at the Indiana Convention Center. “It’s a downhill run. The ones would get four plays. The twos would get four plays. You start at the 25 and it’s the red zone in. It’s just having the pride vs. the offense. That was a big deal. That really took us to the next step.”

Then came, as he called it, “the Georgia beatdown," in the Orange Bowl, a 34-11 Bulldog win.

“When we brought that in, it was mixed downs, you get three downs,” he said. “You get two run plays and one pass play. So you never know when it’s coming. You’re not focusing as much on the run. I think that brought us to the next level, too.”

Linebacker Mike Barrett, one of a record-18 Michigan players at the combine this year, said the Wolverines knew they lost the Georgia game in the 2021 season in the trenches.

“It was all play-action passes, no shotgun,” Barrett, who played at Lowndes High in Valdosta, said of the 11-on-11. “It was just pound some dirty football. You’ve got to go in there and get it in the trenches. It’s a mindset thing. We brought that into practice.”

The “Beat Georgia” period “emphasis is stopping the run and being able to run the ball when the other team knows you’re going to run the ball,” then Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said last summer, according to On3.com. ““That’s what I really respect about that team, their ability to run the ball when the other team knows they’re running the ball and their ability to stop the run.”

There was no Michigan-Georgia rematch in the playoff last season.

The Wolverines did their part through two suspensions of Harbaugh.

Georgia’s SEC championship loss to Alabama knocked the Bulldogs out.

“I got some friends over there,” McGregor said. “We kind of talked about it. It would have been fun.”

Georgia defensive lineman Zion Logue watched the national championship game with cornerback Kamari Lassiter and safety Javon Bullard.

Logue envisioned how Georgia would have done against those teams.

“I definitely feel like we would have won it,” Logue said. “You’re not going to say you’re going to make it all the way to the national championship and lose. I feel like we would have done some things different.”

Logue said he thinks Georgia’s defense would have held up better than Washington did in a 34-13 Michigan win.

“Pac-12 football going against a Big Ten-caliber, but SEC-caliber offensive line,” Logue said. “They don’t really have the beef in the middle to stop that run I can say. They did what they could with what they have.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Michigan inspired by loss to Georgia football, say NFL combine players